ChargePoint Charging Question

[Evie]

Don't know if this horse has been beaten to death yet or not.

When using a Chargepoint public charger I need to follow the sequence
1- unlock station via the app
2- connect charger to car
3- press OK on the app

If I do 3 then 2 the charger won't recognize the vehicle and will not charge.

Am I alone or is this the gremlin in my car.

 

[Don]

It is almost certainly (99.9%) a Charge Point issue and not anything having to do with your car

Don

 

[wmcbrine]

Personally, I swipe the Chargepoint key fob rather than using the app. No problems that way, IIRC.

 

[JoeS]

https://www.chargepoint.com/support/how-to-charge/

I've never used the app, but with the card I simply tap the station, wait a couple of seconds for it to authenticate, after which it then tells me to plug the car in and automatically starts charging after I do that. Before unplugging, I tap the card on the station - otherwise I get an email telling me the car was unplugged.

 

[Evie]

Used the app today.

Followed my sequence and Evie charged just fine.

I work for the city and the city runs the 2 chargepoint stations downtown and offers free charging to anyone.

I worked and charged today it was a double bonus day.

 

[databeestje]

This is my method as well, connect charger, swipe fob, connect car. However, some EVSE stations (load balanced ones) are slow to activate 240 and the miev disables the charger, it never attempts again.

If the EVSE takes over 3 seconds to activate AC it fails for me. That's quite annoying. I thought it was just my 2010 model not supporting the correct signalling, but it seems the more recent models have similar issues.

 

[JoeS]

databeestje, this thread is specifically about the ChargePoint brand EVSEs (ChargePoint being probably the most prolific supplier of public charging EVSEs here in the US). Is your comment about ChargePoint or some other brand of EVSE?

 

[jray3]

I have a pretty definite issue with ChargePoint stations, including the newer two-headed units.
The infamous charging 'timeout' happens very soon after plugging in and continues for 10-45 minutes. Now that my pack is degraded, the ability to harvest at least 3 kWh during an hour on L2 can make all the difference. Just last night, I needed an hour of opportunity charging and on a new ChargePoint station, I got maybe 5 minutes of 3 kW, then a 10 minute timeout and then 25 minutes of charging at only 1.1 kW before I had to leave. A grand total of 0.57 kWh added in 43 minutes!

Can anyone else confirm this issue with ChargePoint?

 

[ChrisEV]

I have a pretty definite issue with ChargePoint stations, including the newer two-headed units.
The infamous charging 'timeout' happens very soon after plugging in and continues for 10-45 minutes. Now that my pack is degraded, the ability to harvest at least 3 kWh during an hour on L2 can make all the difference. Just last night, I needed an hour of opportunity charging and on a new ChargePoint station, I got maybe 5 minutes of 3 kW, then a 10 minute timeout and then 25 minutes of charging at only 1.1 kW before I had to leave. A grand total of 0.57 kWh added in 43 minutes!

Can anyone else confirm this issue with ChargePoint?

I use Chargepoint all the time and I haven't seen this at all.

I do see the car will periodically stop charging for 20 minutes or so but I see this at home and I saw this on a Flo charger a few days ago. But when it resumed it goes back up to 3kW or so and I see 208V/14A.

I only see the charge speed decrease when it's around 90-95%.

Here's how that session looked like. I only see it stop when I'm charging from low SoC. I was at 15% when I stated and a Bolt was using the DC charger.

 

[wmcbrine]

The infamous charging 'timeout' happens very soon after plugging in and continues for 10-45 minutes. ... Can anyone else confirm this issue with ChargePoint?

AFAIK, this is down to the car. I don't know why it does it. But it's not specific to ChargePoint. I see the same thing at home with my JuiceBox. I think it always does this, unless you get lucky with a partial charge. The timing seems random.

 

[jray3]

Ok thx for the feedback, I guess it is ChargePoint’s fault for providing the best real-time data, and being the only public EVSE option between my office and home, which is the main time I need a top-off - after a heavy day of errands! I’m wondering if the timeouts become longer or more frequent as the battery ages. That would correspond with increasing cell drift...

 

[1pk]

Jray, Would you mind giving your feedback on my thread regarding fast charging high mileage batteries? I’d like to know if you’ve seen the same behaviour from your car.

Thanks

 

[ChrisEV]

Ok thx for the feedback, I guess it is ChargePoint’s fault for providing the best real-time data, and being the only public EVSE option between my office and home, which is the main time I need a top-off - after a heavy day of errands! I’m wondering if the timeouts become longer or more frequent as the battery ages. That would correspond with increasing cell drift...

What SOC % do you typically charge at when you have timeouts?

I only see them when I start a charge around 20-30% or so. I have other sessions starting at >50% and no timeout

 

[kevin1956murray]

I have tried twice today charging my MiEV at a Chargepoint station, and both times after some charging at 3kW it stopped, then continued to charge at only 1.13 kW. The first time I got just 15 minutes at 3kW, the second time it was about 2 hours at 3kW. I called Chargepoint, and the guy thinks it is the car restricting the incoming power, since those stations showed high kWh charges the day before. So I checked the MiEV owners manual, and while timing can be programmed, I can find no option to set incoming power. I doubt it is battery heating, since today is a very breezy 50F day (nice and cool).

Does anyone know what I might do so that I can get the full 3kW charge until the battery is full?

 

[jray3]

I see the same thing- plugging in at low SOC, say 20%, then a brief 3 kW charge of around 5 minutes followed by a 15 min timeout and resumption at 1.1 kW for the rest of the first hour, at which time I had to go. Really disappointed to only harvest 0.6 kWh in that time.

 

[ChrisEV]

Which Chargepoint units are these? Is it the older ones or newer dual head ones?

I never see tapering except around 95% which I'd expect.

My car times out for 20 minutes if I start at low SOC% otherwise I see 208V/14A every time. Always get around 2.8-2.9kW or 18km/hour per the app.

 

[kevin1956murray]

It is a dual head (station) charging post, installed only about a month ago. It did the same stop, and restart just at 1.13 kW today, after charging for about one hour at the full 3 kW. When it stops, it does not stop for long at all. It goes right back up, but to just about a third of the full rate, and stays at that 1.13 rate. It continues flat until near full charge, then tapers down. This time the State of Charge at the start of charging was about 60%, not really low at all.

 

[JoeS]

I've used a lot of ChargePoint EVSEs but, quite frankly, never paid much attention to the EVSE's reaction to the i-MiEV's 'timeout' issue as I'd get roughly the amount of charge expected, recognizing that many of them use 208vac and not 240vac. kevin1956murray, it might be a good idea to shoot an email to ChargePoint detailing the problem and giving them the exact location, date, and time and see what they have to say. [email protected]

 

[kevin1956murray]

I sent a message to Chargepoint online Saturday (two days ago), detailing the step down in power. That automatically opened "ticket #1257292", but I have yet to see any response.

 

[kevin1956murray]

Below I am attempting to show a plot of the drop of power that I have seen 3 times now while charging my MiEV with Chargepoint. I have yet to see a drop similar from 3kW when charging my Volt.